New Generations
by Invader Phoenix
Summary: Zack and Ren have a connection, even though they've hardly spoken. A rivalry is reborn in the blood of the new generation. T just in case. ZATR, GAMR.
1. Family

In the crowded Middle Skool lunchroom, noise was everywhere. Plates clattering, food crunching, but mostly the loud conversations of eighth graders. Schoolchildren talk quite a bit, and this group was no exception.

The black-haired girl looked around and rolled her eyes. Sometimes the madness of the cafeteria was irritating. After all, it wasn't quite as much fun when you sat alone. It wasn't as if she had no friends, but they were all in some sort of club meeting or something.

As she stared down at the slop on her plate, she felt something stir beside her. She lifted her head to see him sitting next to her. Funny, they'd never really talked before.

"Hey," he said casually.

"Hi," she replied. "Zack, right?"

"Yeah." He studied her jokingly, as if he had to work hard to place her name. "Ren?"

Ren laughed. "Yep. You're not as dumb as you look."

Zack rolled his eyes, paused, and ran a hand through his jet-black hair. "Ugh… why do they have to have parent-teacher night at this school?"

"What, there's a problem with it?"

He pressed his glasses against his face. "Yes. My dad's horrible."

"You lie. He can't be that bad," Ren said.

"Yes, he is," Zacck replied. "I think he might be mental. He drones on and on about the same things! He's busy, but I don't think he ever gets anything _important_ done."

"You're not the only one, trust me," she asid, putting her arm around his shoulder. "My family's crazy, too. Every family seems insane sometimes. It'll be fine."

Just then, the lunch bell rang and everyone cleared out of the room.

Zack trudged home. Parent-teacher night was in just a few hours, and he wanted to ditch. But it was required, and he couldn't. He cursed under his breath.

He found his dad downstairs, in the massive laboratory part of the house. It'd been there since his grandfather's time. He had his eyes fixed on a monitor, unwavering, fiercely determined. Zack sighed. Why did he have to be born here, of all places? What was worse, he looked like his dad. Exactly what he didn't want.

His father was never popular, and still wasn't. He had been branded insane by countless people, including his own son. He was resolute in his career, which was more of a lifestyle for him. Obsessive, crazy, nerdy-looking… This man wasn't the kind of father you'd want all of your friends to see at a school function.

Zack walked upstairs with a heavy heart. This was not going to be a good night.

"Mom, I'm home!" Ren shouted as she opened the door. She smiled at the normality of this afternoon: her mother sitting on the couch with a book (a thriller novel), the curious sounds coming from downstairs and, of course, the little figures playing on the tile.

Her mother looked up from her book. "Hi, Ren. School was good?"

"Yeah, I guess. We have to be at the school for parent-teacher night at six-"

She was cut off by the sound of the explosion from downstairs. She and her mother looked at each other for a split second before facepalming. This wasn't that unusual.

"I GO SEE WHUT HAPPENED!" shouted one of the tiny things on the floor. He got up and raced into the kitchen. Ren followed.

The elevator stopped in what was named the 'making stuff room'. A figure bent over a horrible mess, muttering angrily. He stood like that for a full minute, not realizing that he wasn't alone.

"Um, Dad…?"

He turned around to see his daughter standing behind him.

"What happened this time?" she asked.

"It wasn't my fault."

"That's what you always say," Ren replied. She noticed something was off. She hadn't come down alone, so where was-

The tiny metallic creature ran through the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. Of course he'd come down to help only to mess something up.

"GIR!" Ren's father screamed, running after the robot. Some things never changed…

The three of them ran about the room, Ren and her dad trying to catch the little hyperactive thing, but this was to no avail. GIR eventually burned himself out and slept on the cold metal floor. Not that it bothered him.

Ren looked around at the mess. "Mom's gonna kill you."

He surveyed the area. "Nonsense." They headed back up the elevator. "She doesn't have the nerve to-"

He stopped talking at the sight of his steaming mad wife in the kitchen. "You have five seconds to explain."

"Itwasn''lltryagainlater. The end."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a moron."

"LIES!" He shouted.

Ren looke around uneasily. "Um, I'm gonna go get GIR-"

"Come on, Zim! Every time you fail, you blame it on someone else! You don't know what you're doing."

Sometimes it was hard to believe that they could tolerate each other, much less marry each other. But that was how it was for Zim and Tak. Life was never easy around here.

Ren wandered downstairs and picked up the cute little robot. She was one of three kids, all of them adopted. Two defective Irken children, who were attending the elementary school, and one human girl. Parent-teacher night was difficult, as she had a cover to help keep, but things would turn out all right. After all, her mom looke like a human when in disguise, about five foot six with purple hair and eyes. Zim's disguise was the same as always, but it made him look taller. He'd made it himself and refused to use any different.

As she made her way up the staircase, she sighed. This was going to be a long night.


	2. Embarassment

The cafeteria was crowded with students, teachers, and parents. Zack sighed as he looked around and saw all of the perfectly normal families. This was not going to go well.

"What's wrong?" his father asked him.

"I don't want to be here," Zack muttered through clenched teeth.

His dad rolled his eyes. "I don't like it either. Bad memories. But it's important, so we have to come."

"He's right," his mother said. At least she was normal. Long brown hair, green eyes, calm, demeanor. If only both his parents could be like that.

He saw Ren getting a cup of the punch. Perfect. He barely knew her, but he trusted her. Maybe she'd help him get away. He tried to nonchalantly walk toward her, but his dad followed while his mom left to meet his homeroom teacher. Of course.

Ren looked up to see them. "Hey, Zack," she said calmly. "Is this your dad?"

"Yeah," Zack said through clenched teeth. He whispered, "Help me."

The man extended his hand toward Ren, and she shook it. _Something about him seems… familiar._ She thought. "I'm Ren."

Zack's father grinned. "Nice to meet you." Suddenly his head snapped to the side as if he'd heard something.

"Um, is anything…wrong?" she asked him.

"I just heard-"

"HEY, Dad, do you want to see my science teacher? You'd like him." Zack said hastily. He was NOT about to let this happen.

Zack's dad didn't move. "I thought I heard…somebody I knew." The word _somebody_ was tinged with malice.

Ren cocked her head to the side. "Who?"

"An alien."

Ren gulped. This was very, very bad. She knew what this man meant. "Um… isn't that interesting?"

Zack watched her. She held her cup in a nervous death grip. What was going on?

His father turned back to where he heard the sound. "Why would he be here…?" he murmured.

_I have to stall,_ Ren thought. "You believe in aliens, sir?"

"Not just believe in them, I know they're there. And one's in this room!"

Zack pulled his father's arm. "Dad, I think we should go now."

"I can't. Not now."The man said, trying to pull his son off of him.

"Aliens, huh?" Ren said, panicked. She had to distract him.

"Dad, let's GO."

"We're not leaving!"

"What planet are they-"

"I want to go home."

"We're not going home, Zack!"

"Do you-"

"NOW!"

"NO!"

"Why-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

The shout froze the three of them in their tracks. Ren bit her lip. This was very, very, very bad.

Zim stepped out of the crowd, who were unfazed by the activity around them. "Why are you here, Dib-worm?"

Zack's father pushed his son off his arm. "I could ask the same thing, Spaceboy!"

Ren didn't move.

"ANSWER ME!" Zim hollered.

Dib pointed at Zack, who was brushing himself off. "My son goes here, why else?"

Zim whirled around and yelled at his daughter. "ATTACK THE HUMAN NOW!" Ren tried to act as though she didn't know the green man, but Zim wasn't going to give up. "Well, what are you waiting for? DESTROY HIM!"

Dib raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing? Wait… you don't mean-"

Tak pushed Dib aside. "We're going home."

"T-Tak? What are you-" He was silenced by the sharp punch Tak landed on his face.

She dragged Ren out of the room. Zim stayed to yell at his old enemy.

"ZIM, GET OVER HERE!"

"BUT THE DIB-"

"NOW."

Zim followed.

Zack stewed in the back of the car. That was horrible. His Dad was officially insane. And what was up with that green guy? He must've had some sort of skin condition or something.

"I'm telling you, he's really an alien!" Dib said.

"Eyes on the road!" shouted Zack's mom. "And even if aliens do exist, that's not an excuse to yell at people in public!"

Dib ignored his wife. "Zack, who was that girl you were talking to?"

Zack didn't look up. "Just a girl. She's in my class."

"And the green guy?"

"I have no clue who he is! I've never seen him before in my life!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Dib did not want to further his son's anger. He knew he'd embarrassed him, but he had reason. This was bigger than Zack could understand. "Alright. I won't talk about it anymore."

But Zack knew he would.

Ren turned on Zim the minute they stepped in the door. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, DAD? ARE YOU INSANE?"

"IT WAS THE DIB! I HAD TO-"

Tak pushed her way between the two. "This isn't a conversation for you two to be having. Ren, go upstairs. Zim, downstairs."

"But-"

"DOWNSTAIRS. NOW."

Ren trudged up the stairs. She could hear her brother and sister in GIR and MiMi's room. She walked in to see them gathered at GIR's weekly tea party.

The parties were never typical. Instead of tea and pastries, tacos, waffles, cupcakes, and just about whatever random food you could imagine were served. Tonight it was bacon, beans, and peppermints.

Ren's brother, Aje, looked up. "How'd it go?" the ruby-eyed Irken asked smugly.

"Horrible," Ren replied, rolling her eyes.

Phoe looked up. "Did Daddy do somethin' again?"

"Yes." It was more than expected now amongst the three kids.

Ren suddenly staggered back as GIR jumped on top of her head. The little robot never seemed to sit still unless he Scary Monkey Show was on. Ren laughed as she pried him off her head and put him beside MiMi. He whispered in the female SIR's antenna and she made a happy facial expression, as she could not speak. The two androids were in an adorable romance. The hope that they could throw a little wedding for GIR and MiMi was shared by Ren, Aje, and Phoe.

Ren stayed for the rest of the little party before heading to her room. The chamber contained a bed, a small closet, a desk, and several means of storage space. Ren had posters and photos on her walls, like any other teenager, but she also had a small store of lasers and such. You never knew when you might need them.

She flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She loved her life, but sometimes she wished that she could just be normal. At least at school she could act like she wasn't the adopted daughter of a pair of aliens.

But after what happened tonight, it may never be the same.


	3. Spying

**Sorry this took so long. I've been working on some other things, so I'm giving you two chapters! Please read and review!**

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><p>Zack breathed in as he looked across the street. Ren was walking home. It had been a week since the parent-teacher night incident, and he still hadn't apologized. He cursed himself for not having the nerve. He was shy and it was embarrassing to have to express regret for his father. Who could blame him?<p>

Zack crossed the street hurriedly, took another deep breath, and spoke up. "Ren?"

She turned around. "Hey, Zack."

He gulped. "Um, I'm sorry about… y'know… what happened the other day…"

Ren suddenly looked a bit tense. "It's fine. I think our dads knew each other in school and they…"

"Yeah," Zack said. He rolled his eyes. "My dad's a paranormal freak. He's spent the past week showing me all sort of stuff he has about some alien he found in elementary school. I'm not sure I have to guess who it was…"

Ren sighed. "Yes, it was my father."

"But the whole green thing's just a skin condition, right?"

"You could say that."

Zack paused to look at her for a moment. Something about her reaction was…off. For some reason, he wanted to prove his old man wrong, that there was nothing weird about Ren's family. Maybe that'd shut him up about his alien obsession.

She turned into the yard of a peculiar green house. She lifted her hand. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Uh-huh," Zack said, hardly paying attention. He had a plan. He just hoped it wouldn't make him look like a stalker. "See 'ya."

* * *

><p>That night, the black-haired boy made his way through the streets without making a sound. He hit the RECORD button on his video camera, a tiny one that he could easily conceal if he needed to. He stopped in front of the glowing green house.<p>

Zack shuddered. Those lawn gnomes were creepy. Their eyes seemed to follow him as he made his way into the manicured yard.

"Ahh!" he shouted as the first laser beam shot past his head. He raced across the grass. What was going on? Killer lawn ornaments? What was up with that?

He dove into the side of the house. The gnomes ceased their fire. He panted, trying to catch his breath. He had no explanation for the gnome attack. After a minute, he crept along the wall, peering through the windows. He could see a strange-looking living room with a picture of… a green monkey? _That's weird…_ Zack thought as he moved.

He inspected the tiny backyard, but there wasn't anything odd there, either, aside from some odd decoration. He could hear the excited voices of children coming from inside. One seemed to emit a high-pitched shriek that didn't end; just one long, continuous note until he heard "GIR, BE QUIET!"

GIR. What a name.

He knew he couldn't get a good look at any people from out here, and it would be too awkward if he went to the front door and asked to come in. Then what would he do? It was ten at night.

Zack looked up. The walls of the home were smooth, but he noticed a few things that could be used as footholds. He made sure no one was watching him before reaching out to climb the wall.

He finally got a grip he could hold for a while just below a window. It showed the hallway. Zack watched as he saw Ren walk by, but she didn't seem to notice him. Good. He did NOT want her to think he was a perv.

The next few minutes passed with nothing happening. Finally, two figures came upstairs as if to tuck children into bed. Zack nearly fell off of the building. What? They had green skin, antennae, and wide eyes of unnatural colors. The shorter one's eyes were in between magenta and ruby, the other, who looked more feminine, had narrow purple ones.

They looked just like the pictures Dib had shown him, though he'd always thought they were fake… But these people couldn't be human.

They were aliens.

They disappeared into another room, and Zack turned around to try and catch his breath. He had just found aliens. Real, live extraterrestrials. What was more; they were the parents of a girl in his class. Ren…was an alien? She didn't seem like one, but it seemed to be the only conclusion he could think of. What could he do? Call the police? Call his father? Call the secret agency he knew that his father was a member of even though he denied everything?

He turned back and nearly lost his grip once again. Ren was staring down at him with a glare colder than the Arctic.

"Look, I-"

She said nothing as she gently lifted his hands off the edge and left him to fall.

But he didn't fall. Some sort of probe caught him halfway down. It closed up and, upon closer inspection; he found a note tied to it.

_Big mistake._

He swallowed hard and looked back up at Ren, but she was gone.

As he ran home faster than he ever had run before, one thought circled through his head.

_WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?_

* * *

><p>When he arrived home, Zack ran straight for his father. The man was sitting in his usual spot, checking his Bigfoot monitors.<p>

"Dad! Dad-" he shouted, panicked.

Dib turned his chair around. "Keep it down. What is it?"

"! I SAW THEM!"

"What?"

"I SAW ALIENS," he managed to get out.

Dib immediately sat up. "That green house a few blocks down?"

"Yeah!" Zack panted. "There were two, maybe more. But that girl last week- THEY'RE HER PARENTS. I heard them! They sounded just like them! You… were right. This whole time."

Dib turned for a minute, screamed "FINALLY!" to no one in particular, and swiveled back to his son. "Do you know what to do?"

"No. I have no idea."

"You need proof. Concrete proof."

"I-have a camera! I brought it with me! It's right-" Zack looked down to where he had his camera clipped to his shirt. There was no camera, just another tiny note.

_Nice try,_ it said in neat handwriting.

The two looked each other in disbelief. The only proof they had-gone, just like that.

Father and son talked late into the night, debating what the next step should be. By two in the morning, they had absolutely no idea what to do. Zack trudged up the stairs heavyhearted. Tonight had bent and twisted his reality. What worlds lay hidden right under their noses?

He looked into his closet. There it was. His father had given it to him many years ago, back when it was far too big. Zack had kept it hidden in the closet, never wanting to see it again. But now something pushed him to take it out. He wanted it.

Running his hand down the long surface, he knew that his life would never be the same. But now, he had a new path. A path that he had to follow.


	4. Rivalry Rising

Ren purposefully avoided Zack's gaze the next day. This was bad, very bad. The kid of the man who tried to destroy her father knew about her family's secret. What should she do? He might try to the people she knew and loved. She couldn't stand to have it happen.

The day flew by and the lunch bell rang. Ren sat at her usual table, eyes darting around suspiciously. Part of her wanted to confront Zack, but part of her was afraid to do anything.

He came and sat across the table from her. "Well, isn't this a nice surprise?" he said jokingly.

"What do you want?" she snapped irritably.

"Just information."

"How so?"

"I just want to know a few things about your little _family_."

Ren looked him straight in the eye. "You trespassed, spied on me last night, and tried to VIDEO TAPE me. You really think you deserve answers?"

"Could I at least get my camera back?"

"Sure." She tossed it to him. "But I deleted everything from last night. I'm not stupid."

Zack glared at her. "I'll get you, alien scum."

Her eyes widened. _He thinks I'm an alien? Makes sense,_ she thought. _And maybe I can use that to my advantage._

"Just you try." She whispered with a wink.

Zack was silent. How could she play so cocky? She acted like she had something up her sleeve. Shouldn't she be panicked?

"I-I will. And you're going to regret the day that you ever messed with me."

"My poor Zack, I've hardly done anything. This goes back further. Don't blame me."

"I'm going to stop you."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

"You think you're clever, but you're just another piece of space junk."

"You lie!" She snapped.

"Or are you the one who's lying?"

"Well, if that didn't sound pitiful and desperate I don't know what does." She grinned. She was turning the conversation back around. "Insults, like alien hunting, don't appear to be one of your strong points."

"Go back to where you came from."

"It'd be more convenient if you did. Look at this. You look like you're turning into your dad. No one liked him, and you're no better." _Wow,_ she said to herself. _That was… mean. But I can't let him think he's winning. He won't break my family._

Zack clenched his teeth in anger. "I don't care what you say."

"Then why are you mad at me?"

…

"And by the way, nice trench coat," she said as she walked away from him.

Zack sat in the silence and said nothing.

* * *

><p>That night, Ren paced back and forth in the basement. She'd told Zim about Zack and how he knew the secret, and he had told her to wait while he went to get something. Something she could use. She fiddled with the PAK replica she'd been given several years ago. It was the same as an Irken Pak, only she didn't need it to live, and it didn't go inside of her back or do anything about her health. But she liked it that way. It used her bio-signature to attach to her back when needed.<p>

Zim returned with a hunk of scrap metal in the form of a small body. He did something to it, and it booted to life, bright purple eyes shining before turning red.

"KOR reporting for duty," said the tiny SIR unit.

Ren looked up at her father in amazement. "What?"

Zim rolled his eyes. "GIR and MiMi wanted smeets, so… this is the first one. I just used some spare parts from each of them. I just hope it doesn't turn out like-"

KOR's eyes turned purple again and he latched onto Ren's arm. "Hiya, mistress! Dis gonna be fuuuuunnnnnn! We gonna eat waffles and pancakes and Frenchy toast! Doo doo doo doo I can't wait to getta mouthful!"

Ren laughed at his GIR-ness while Zim banged his head on a table. "This is awesome! Thanks, Dad! I use him to stop Zack, right?"

Zim brought his head up from banging. "Yes. ZIM IS AMAZING!"

Ren took KOR upstairs. "C'mon, KOR, your mommy and daddy are gonna want to see you!"

* * *

><p>Zack paced in his bedroom. Something about this was all out of place. She knew that he knew, but... ugh, he hated how cocky she was. How come she didn't panic or immediately try to kill him? He'd spent all night watching what little recordings Dib had of his battles with Zim (that were apparently still ongoing) and listened to countless stories, but, still, Ren seemed to have a different approach.<p>

He looked through countless files and found many, many failed attempts at stopping Zim, and some that had succeeded but didn't bring him to dissection. Maybe if he could get an X-ray photo of Ren's organs… (Wow that sounded pervy.) Maybe, but how would he get that? Too difficult. Maybe he could just get a video of her out of disguise? Or at least her parents. He'd never seen her as an Irken, but that could happen any day, right?

Zack sat at his desk, typing several separate plans. He could probably come up with something based on patterns of Dib's plans. He noticed that the times his father won were usually when he was acting in self-defense. He usually lost when he'd struck first. Other times it seemed that Zim made careless mistakes. But most often he won in defense. Zack took note of this. If he could just provoke Ren to strike first…

He spent hours that night trying to think of what to do. But when at least three plans were forthcoming, he fell asleep, still in his chair.


	5. Defect

**Yay for quick update!**

**Wow, KOR's gotten a decent reaction already! Thank you all for your reviews. I plan to make this story into a series. Feel free to PM me with commetns or suggestions!**

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><p>Zim looked up as the door swung wide open. Ren and KOR came inside, each of them holding a cup of ice cream. An awkward silence ensued.<p>

"This isn't what it looks like," Ren said as she hid the frozen cup of deliciousness behind her back.

They bolted upstairs before they could be questioned further.

Ren sighed as she flopped down on her bed. KOR mimicked her, not knowing what to do otherwise. "What am I going to do, KOR?" She asked, kicking off her boots. "Wait for him to make a move? Strike first?"

"Can we go to the Waffle House?" KOR asked, sitting up.

Ren laughed. After a week with the robot, they were already quite close. "No, KOR, your daddy's making dinner tonight."

"Taquitos?" the robot said hopefully.

"Honestly, I never know what GIR is going to be making," Ren replied as she, too, propped herself up on the sheets. "But I meant what I'm going to do about Zack."

"Da meanie boy?" KOR asked, purple eyes widening.

"Yes, him." Ren sighed. "I'm not sure either one of us wants to be the first to attack. Y'know?"

"NO!" KOR shouted happily.

Ren let a tiny smile slip. "It's a virtue thing. The first one to strike tends to look like the bad guy."

"But he be da bad guy, riiiiight?"

"Right." Ren looked up at the ceiling. "If he wants to hurt us, I won't let him. He'll have to kill me before I let him harm any one of you."

"DA FOOD BE READYYYYY!" came GIR's high-pitched voice from downstairs. The smell of syrup wafted up the steps. Then came the sound of impact. "MASTAH! DA PANCAKES BE READY!"

"GET OFF MY HEAD, GIR! I COMMAND YOU!"

"COME AND GET THE PANCAKES!"

"**GET OFF!"**

"**PANCAKES!"**

"**GET-"**

"_**PANCAKES!"**_

Ren and KOR looked at each other before bursting out in a fit of laughter.

"When is something going to happen already?" Zack hollered as he pushed a file off his cluttered desk. Never had he been so anxious for action. A week of waiting for the alien to attack him, and nothing was happening! Dangit!

He wiped his brow as he sat down. Now was the time to put a plan in motion. _Provoke her, provoke her into attacking you. Then you'll find strength in defending yourself,_ he thought. But what could set her off? Nothing of which he was aware of. Zack barely knew anything about Ren's personality. Smart…sneaky…evil… what else? He reflected on the conversation they'd had a week ago. She'd grown angry at him for two reasons. One was for discovering her secrets and invading her privacy. The other was for calling her space junk. What did she do when she was mad that time? She just yelled. Insults. Words could throw her off balance if chosen carefully. Now, what words would work best to hurt her?

Zack scanned his father's record on the Irken Empire. Their hierarchy was based on military training and skill, and height. Height, of all things! Would calling Ren short be enough to break her? No, she was as tall, if not half an inch taller, than he was. He didn't want to be a hypocrite. And she was probably skilled in weapons, based on her cocky nature. There had to be something else.

He poured over the file on his computer, then proceeded to read files on her father's personality. Arrogant, advanced in technology, often acting hardheaded and foolish.

The file on Zim was very, very long. Dib had obviously been battling the little alien for ages. Twenty-five years… and still no one but his son believed him.

Hours of reading, and Zack had come up with a list of terms he could use to anger Ren the next day. He yawned and pulled back his navy bed sheets. With all his research, he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. That wasn't helping him get an edge. Somewhere, he knew that he would end up in a physical battle to save mankind from the alien menace. And sleeping three hours a night wouldn't do him much good.

"Ack-"

Ren poked the blob of cafeteria food with her fork. There were good days, and there were bad days here. This was one of the bad days. The grayish blob smelled like hay, but had the texture of… well; it was harder than potatoes, but softer than a rock. Whatever it was, she had absolutely no intention of eating it.

Zack slid down across from her. Unbeknownst to him, the bench was slick with spilled Poop Cola, and he fell to the floor. Ren burst out laughing as her rival rose from underneath the table.

"Thank you, Zack-beast. You just made my day." She flashed him a toothy smile.

"Whatever," he said, dusting himself off. "Amateur."

"Excuse me?"

Zack shrugged. "You're obviously an amateur at torture. After all, you didn't even know that the seat was wet. Stop gloating over coincidence."

"Oh, please. Stop trying to look cool." She stabbed her lunch blob again.

"Really, I wouldn't think a _defect_ should be talking to me about looking cool."

Ren's head snapped up. Her hand tightened around her milk carton. The contents squirted out onto the table as the cardboard was squished in upon itself. Her eyes glowed with an angry fire and…was that a pinch of hurt?

"Pardon?" she said dangerously, a sharp edge to her tone.

"I said a _defect_ shouldn't be talking about having dignity."

"BITE. YOUR. TONGUE."

Zack fought not to flinch at the severity of those words. But he'd hit a nerve. He couldn't back down now. "Oh, come on, you can't take a little insult?"

Ren lowered her voice. "NEVER say that to me again."

He smiled smartly.

Her fist balled up, but she did not strike. _Control, control._ Her whispers to herself were enough to get her to walk away. But not without throwing her stinking blob of "food" at his face.

Zack grinned as he wiped away the slithery yet sticky slop. So the word 'defect' had a good outcome. But… why that, of all words?

Ren spoke to no one upon returning home. She went up to her room, where KOR was bouncing on his little bed.

"How was skool, mistress?" the SIR asked cheekily.

"Bad," Ren whispered. Then she fell on her pillow and burst into tears.

KOR put an arm around her. "Aww… whut happened?"

"Zack… that DAMN MORON…" She let out another sob. "He said it." KOR squeezed her tighter. "Will…I ever be good enough?" Ren whispered.

Her robot hugged her and whispered. "Why you gotta be meanie to yerself? I love you, mistress. You be great."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm an outcast. Raised by Irkens, one of whom was cast out because he's a…defect. Daughter of a defect. I have to keep secrets from friends here, and I'd never be accepted there. Human and a defect's daughter."

KOR held his mistress tighter, his purple eyes glowing as the sky grew dark and the room pitch black.


	6. The Battlefield

**Didn't think I'd end it this chapter, but it just happened. Keep an eye out for sequels to N. G. I plan to, at the least, make two sequels. Probobly more. And until then, you can catch Ren and Zack in some of the more recent chapters of The Invader Zim Singing Challenge. Please, review or PM me any feedback! I hope you stick around with the New Generations series!**

**-bak602**

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><p>Zack walked in the late night air. For the last few days, he'd been enjoying taking walks when hardly anyone else was awake. He needed time to himself to reflect on the world. After all, within the last three weeks everything he'd known about the world had changed. Things he'd never thought possible were real, and quite potent. Aliens, ghosts, just otherworldly things in general. They all suddenly made sense to him. Even little silver dogs with purple eyes.<p>

Wait, what?

He looked a ways in front of him at the creature. The irises of the dog's eyes were a bright, glowing purple. Its fur was sleek and silver, almost…metallic. Something was off about that dog. In the dim light of the park lamps, he tried to make out the figure holding the thin leash. Ren.

He stepped forward. Upon noticing him, she flashed him a cocky smile… as if she'd been expecting him. Something was different here. Gone were normal T-shirts and jeans. Here was a long, dark purple shirt with thin, light-colored sleeves, striped with thin black lines. Black pants, black boots, black gloves. And… WHAT WAS THAT? It was like a tiny backpack, but it had no straps yet stayed in a uniform position. She was ready…to fight.

He composed himself and directed his gaze to the dog. "So, who's your friend?"

She laughed. "Nice save, dirt-boy. Nice save. But if I'm a _defect_…" she twisted the leash around her hand. "Why would you care?"

He raised an eyebrow and adjusted the collar of his trench coat. "I think I have a right to know."

"And that right is…?"

"If you want to kill me, which it's obvious you do, I'd like to know your weapon of choice."

She smirked. "Brave little filth-pest, aren't we? KOR! UNLEASH YOUR MIGHTY ROBOT FORM!"

Zack stared at the dog. The hologram melted, leaving him with a tiny, purple-eyed, admittedly cute android.

Ren smiled proudly at the robot.

"You named it? KOR? What's it stand for?" Zack asked.

She looked around for an explanation. "Uh, well, eh, er… YOU'RE MAKING IT UP!"

"I didn't…say anything?"

Ren shook herself quickly. _Stop being stupid!_ She told herself. _This is serious business_. "You know nothing of my purposes. I'll give you one last chance. Leave me and my family alone, and I'll go away and pretend nothing ever happened, and then you can go home and be a little freak or whatever you are."

"I find that offensive."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm not leaving."

She ground her teeth for a moment. "I just want to know… What exactly would you do if you caught an alien?"

Zack smiled evilly. "Send them to a science lab. Get them dissected, possibly put on display if they were still alive in a museum or something. Some sort of paranormal freak show. Whatever it would be, I'd prove their existence and teach them to NEVER mess with earth. They'd be sorry for ever landing here."

Ren blinked back a tear. She wound NEVER let that happen to them. "Alright then…"

Zack's eyes widened in alarm at the thin robotic legs coming out of her PAK, which were glowing with a blue heat about to be aimed at him.

"…let's begin."

The rush of the fiery blasts shocked Zack, who barely ducked in time to save his head from the heat. Turning to face his foe, he pulled out the knockout laser his dad had given him, which he now carried at all times. Over the years, he'd been given several paranormal-fighting weapons which, until now, he couldn't have cared less for. He pointed the beam at Ren and shot.

She used the long spiderlike legs to jump away from the blast. "KOR! Assist me!"

"YES, MY MISTRESS!" The SIR's eyes gleamed as he shot a missile the size of Dib's GARGANUTAN head at Zack. He ran away from the blasts that seemed to never end from the extraterrestrial duo.

He whirled around again and shot. Another dodge, this time only by a hair. Ren panted as he pulled out a second weapon. He wasn't half bad. Next to no training and he'd nearly gotten her. But it was going to take a lot more than one good shot to take her down.

She hit him with another blast from a laser in her PAK, which missed yet again. He was quick. And as this thought came upon her, she was shot in the leg.

"AGH!"

KOR's head whipped around. "Y'okay, mistress? YOU NEED CHEESEY POOFS?"

"N-NOT NOW, K-KOR! Agh! GET HIM!" she screeched, firing again. She retracted her robot legs and tried to run, ignoring her would. No blood came from it, it just stung. Badly.

KOR fired at Zack like there was no tomorrow. Mistress had a boo-boo. And it was the meanie-boy's fault! He didn't like it when Mistress was sad! He had to help her by beating the meanie-boy! "EAT MAH TAQUITOS!" he shouted as sounds quite like those of a machine gun came from the launchers on his shoulders.

Ren hopped over to her SIR. "KOR! AX-Z5!" KOR raced to meet her.

Zack dropped his lasers for a moment. "AX-Z5? WHAT'S AX-Z5?"

"**AAAA**AAAAAaaaaaahhhhhh…"

He nearly missed his enemy and her robot rocket into the sky in a purple blaze. Ren's screaming and KOR's maniacal laughter echoed in the night as they flew out of sight.

Then came crashing down.

Zack looked to see Ren sit up from the smoking heap. Her robot lifted his head with a goofy grin. The girl stuttered unintelligibly for a moment before her speech became understandable. "K-KOR… L-let's g-g-go hom-me."

Zack laughed in triumph. "What, you're too much for yourself?"

"Not at all, Zack-worm. That was a fluke. A FLUKE! Don't count this as a victory. I'll be back. This isn't the end. YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yes, I hear you. You can stop shouting."

She said nothing in response. She simply shot one last beam, knocking Zack to the ground. Then she walked with her robot toward home.

Zack propped himself up. Wow that hurt. So his enemy had some skill. Not enough to stop her robot from flying into the sky, but enough to keep him dodging. So it was a foolish mistake that took her down. Not exactly hers, but why would she have given him the command? Either she couldn't control him or she was simply a moron. Most likely the first. Oh, well, he thought as he straightened his back and turned to go home, there's always next time.

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><p>"Are you mad at me, mistress?" KOR asked.<p>

Ren sighed. "To be honest, KOR, I am. What happened back there?"

"I thought you wanted to have some fun!" he said brightly.

She cracked a tiny smile. She couldn't stay angry with KOR. "It's okay. Just remember to never do that around Zack, okay?" He nodded. "Good. Now, to you think we lost?"

"YES!"

"…Yeah. I just wouldn't let him leave with that idiotic smirk," Ren replied, slipping the laser into her PAK. "But, hey, now he knows that we'll fight."

KOR was silent for a minute. "Mistress? What did the meanie boy say to make you all mad?"

Ren breathed out slowly. "I'm… not sure you'd understand, KOR. But… let's just say that he's not a good person. I won't ever let him come near any of you. I- I'll die before risking what I love."

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><p>"She's evil. You can't trust a creature like her."<p>

"You can't trust someone like him."

"I'll do whatever it takes."

"I'll never give up."

"Earth will not be destroyed."

"They will not be destroyed."

"I'll always fight her."

"I'll battle 'till the end."

"This is the new generation."

"This is the new generation."


End file.
